Using personas to promote inclusive education in an online course

Inclusion and diversity are themes at the forefront of education development and the subject of much institutional level policy. However, there are differences that can be made at the course or even module level by local teams that will both compliment institutional policy and have an immediate impact on students. This paper aims to describe the process taken to embed diversity and inclusion into an online career development short course. We will explain how user experience personas, created in the design phase of the course, developed into an integral part of the course curriculum and how they are used to show diversity to a fully asynchronous online cohort. We discuss how theories of pedagogy and design can be combined to have a positive impact on the sense of belong for all students. Finally, we explore how these theories can be applied to wider practice and offer suggestions for how other courses can use our process to embed elements of diversity into their programmes, and hopefully increase a sense of student belonging

(Re)defining learning design: a framework fit for the twenty-first century

Learning design as we know it is at a crossroads. Based on learning theories published almost a hundred years ago, it is designing for in-person learning and a student demographic that hasn’t been seen since the 1950s. In the twenty-first century, and particularly post Covid-19, the field is long overdue for an update that puts blended and online learning at the forefront, addresses the inevitable link between the internet and education and responds to the changing demographics of learners in higher education. This paper will look at pedagogy and learning design through a modern lens with an aim to redefine the field and develop a new framework for learning design that is intuitive, inclusive, and grounded in the current century

An AGN Sample with High X-ray-to-optical Flux Ratio from RASS II.Optical Emission Line Properties of Seyfert 1 Type AGN

This work studies the optical emission line properties of a sample of 155 low-redshift bright X-ray selected ROSAT Seyfert~1 type AGN for which adequate signal-to-noise ratio spectroscopic observations are available. We measured emission line properties by performing multi-component fits to the emission line profiles, covering the effect of blended iron emission. We also obtained continuum parameters, including 250eV X-ray luminosities derived from the ROSAT database. In addition, the measured properties are gathered for a correlation analysis, which confirms the well-known relations between the strengths of Fe~II, [O III] emission and the X-ray slope. We also detect striking correlations between H$\beta$ redshift (or blueshift), flux ratios of Fe `II to H$\beta$ broad component and [O III] to H$\beta$ narrow component. These trends are most likely driven by the Eddington ratio.Comment: ApJ in press, 7 figures include

Twenty-two recommendations for inclusive teaching and their implementation challenges

Higher Education institutions across the world hold a moral and, in many cases, legal responsibility to make their educational offerings accessible and inclusive. Typically, universities may rely solely on checklists of recommendations, which although a key component of developing equitable and inclusive teaching, often fall short of accounting for the multifaceted range of attributes a holistic definition of inclusivity entails. This paper posits that there is a need for better understanding of potential implementation barriers, coupled with guidance and support for both practitioners as well as policy makers. Research reported in this paper presents an analysis of UK equality legislation as it relates to Higher Education and a range of institutional support documentation. This documentary analysis is used to explore, with practitioners, the opportunities for and barriers to implementing recommendations for inclusive learning at a highly selective, science focussed institution. The paper concludes in twenty-two recommendations for inclusive practice and offers them as a tool for others to use in the pursuit of developing more inclusive education, while giving readers the opportunity to learn from the experiences of the those from the research institution

Balsamin, a novel ribosome-inactivating protein from the seeds of Balsam apple Momordica balsamina

Plant seeds, a rich source of proteins, are considered important for their application as functional ingredients in a food system. A novel ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP), balsamin was purified from the seeds of Balsam apple, Momordica balsamina. Balsamin was purified by ion exchange chromatography on CM Sepharose and gel filtration on superdex-75. It has a molecular weight of 28 kDa as shown by SDS-PAGE analysis. Balsamin inhibits protein synthesis in a rabbit reticulocyte lysate-based cell free translation assay with an IC50 of 90.6 ng ml−1. It has RNA N-glycosidase activity and releases a 400-base long fragment termed the Endo fragment from 28S rRNA in the same manner as does saporin-6 from Saponaria officinalis. The N-terminal sequence analysis of the first 12 amino acids of balsamin revealed that it shares 83% similarity with type I RIP α-MMC from Momordica charantia and 50% similarity with β-MMC (from Momordica charantia), bryodin I (from Bryonia dioica) and luffin a (from Luffa cylindrica). Balsamin was further characterized by mass spectrometry. CD spectroscopic studies indicate that secondary structure of balsamin contains helix (23.5%), β-strand (24.6%), turn (20%) and random coil (31.9%). Thus RIPs activity expressed in vegetables like Momordica sp. advocates its usage in diet